[Applause]

Good morning, everyone! You know, this is a noisy place, but the pastor is preparing you for that. Every time he says, "Shout hallelujah," he's getting you prepared to go to heaven. We're not called to be here. But don't worry, it's a joy to be here with you all. I see a lot of new faces since I last came. I praise God for what the Lord is doing in this church. Thank you, Pastor Nor, for allowing me to share the word this morning. Shall we look to the Lord? Let's ask the Lord to speak to us. Father, we want to thank you as we remain in your presence. Lord, we thank you for your goodness and your faithfulness in our lives. Thank you yet again that we can come together as the family of God to worship you in this place. What a privilege, what an honor to worship the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. Lord, we thank you for all that you've been doing in this church and through this church, touching lives for your glory. Even as we get ready to listen to your word, we pray that you would prepare our hearts to receive what you have in store for us. Thank you, in Jesus' precious name, we pray. Amen. Amen. Amen.

You see, when we receive Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, you know what difference it makes in our lives? Quite often, what happens is we stop at "my sins are forgiven," and "I'm a child of God," and "I'm on my way to heaven." We have eternal life. But that's only part of the truth. When Jesus paid the price on the cross, it's not only to redeem us from our sins, but also the consequences of sin. You know what sin did? Sin brought failures into our lives. Sin brought struggles into our lives. Sin brought all kinds of problems and difficulties. Now, when Jesus came, He came to free us in totality, not partially. And my prayer is that the Lord would open our spiritual eyes to discover the blessings, the privileges that we have in Christ Jesus because we belong to Jesus Christ.

I want you to understand something very important. In the sight of God, there are no different classes of believers. It's not that God does miracles only through the hands of some great evangelist or some great man of God. It's not only if the pastor prays for you or some man of God prays for you that you will be set free. He desires and He wants to do that through every child of God. God wants to use every one of us. It's time we stopped running from one man of God to another man of God and open our eyes to see that God can do miracles even through each one of us. Let's see what God wants to speak to us this morning.

I want to take you to the Book of Exodus, chapter 4, verses 13 and 14. Let me read that for you. "But Moses said, 'Oh Lord, please send someone else to do it.' Then the Lord's anger burned against Moses." If you go to the previous verses of the chapter, let me give you the context of what I'm talking about. God calls Moses to lead the Israelites out of Egypt. The Israelites were suffering under Pharaoh. God calls Moses to lead them out of Egypt. So, God meets Moses at the burning bush, and He gives him His appointment letter, says, "I'm calling you to be the leader." And Moses gives all kinds of reasons why he should not be chosen for this purpose. Now, Moses begins, saying, "Lord, I'm a man of stammering lips." And God counters it, saying, "I'm the one who gave you a mouth to speak." And then Moses goes on, saying, "Lord, I cannot do it." And then God does the miracles. He asks, "What's in your hand?" And Moses says, "It's a rod." And God turns it into the rod of God to do miracles. And after all the assurances, after all the promises that God gives to Moses, you know, when we come to verse 13, we find that Moses is still not confident enough to go forward. He tells the Lord, "Lord, please find someone else to do the job. I don't think I am the person qualified to do this job."

Does this sound very familiar to all of us? Quite often, when we're called to do something, we immediately go on the defensive. We immediately respond, saying, "No, I don't think I am the one meant for this job. This is something that the pastor can do, or this is something that the leaders can do. I don't think I can do it." I want you to listen very carefully. On the surface, it looks like you can be very humble and very nice. You know, when you say, "I want to be quiet, I want to be the humble brother or the humble sister in the church," when Moses said that to the Lord, even then Moses said, "Lord, I don't think I'm qualified. Lord, please find someone else for the job." You know, you think God was happy with Moses? It says that the Bible says God burned with anger. When someone is burning with anger, what happens? You better stay away. Now, think about it. God is burning with anger at what Moses said. Then it should be something that really got Him unhappy. The Bible says, you know, that our God is patient and long-suffering, a God who is long-suffering. And we all know that we have all experienced the patience of God, the long-suffering nature of God. If it was not for God's patience and if it was not for His long-suffering, I don't think any one of us would be alive today. Now, if this patient and this long-suffering God is burning with anger at Moses, then that should be something, a serious matter that we really need to sit up and take notice of.

When Moses spoke those words, you know what it showed? It showed that Moses really did not believe the promises of God. That was a sign of unbelief. It was as if God has called us. I want you to know this. If God has called us, then we will be equipped. We don't have to doubt that. If God has called us to do something, then God has already equipped us to do that. And in the sight of God, I want you to know this. Unbelief is worse than rebellion. Unbelief is worse than rebellion. Moses tried to escape God's call because he thought someone else could do a better job. I want you to know this. There is nothing that can hurt God as much as unbelief. There is nothing that can hurt God as much as unbelief.

You know, God was patiently answering His servant's questions so far. Every question, every query that Moses raised up, God was patiently answering them. But now, God really gets angry because Moses is trying to escape the call because Moses did not believe the words of God. Moses did not believe the assurances and the promises that God was giving him. Unbelief is cruel, and it can even bind the hands of the almighty God from doing things in our lives.

Let

me take you to a passage, Matthew's Gospel, chapter 13, verse 15. It says that, "And Jesus did not do many miracles there because of their lack of faith." Jesus could not do many miracles there because of their lack of faith. Now, this was in His hometown of Nazareth where people were not willing to believe that Jesus could do those miracles. For them, Jesus was just the son of an ordinary carpenter. They did not consider Jesus as the Son of God. They lacked that faith to believe that God could do miracles. They lacked the faith to believe that Jesus could do the miracles. And this lack of faith stopped Jesus from doing miracles there.

I want you to listen very carefully. You might have been a believer for many years. You might be one of those very nice believers, very faithful in the church, paying your tithes, and not compromising with the world. But if we are not willing to believe God for the impossible things, if we are not willing to stand on the promises of God, the sad story will be you will not be able to walk in the abundant life, you will not be able to walk in the victorious life that is available for those who are in Christ Jesus. You may not do all the bad things that the world does. You may be one of the finest believers that even your pastor might appreciate. But if you're not willing to believe the promises of God, this was my story. Let me tell you this was my story for many years, even after I came into full-time ministry.

Are we ready to believe God for the impossible things? The Bible says, "All things are possible for the one who believes." All things are possible for the one who believes. You might look at me and say, "Pastor, you do not know how impossible my situation is." I don't want to know how impossible your situation is. All I know and all I should know is that the promise of God says nothing is impossible for my Lord. It doesn't matter how difficult your situation is. It doesn't matter how impossible your situation is. You might be standing before the Red Sea. You might be standing before the Jericho wall. You might have Goliath standing before you. It doesn't matter for me because my God says all things are possible. That's all that matters for me. All things are possible.

You know, when it says, "Nothing is impossible," it does not have any other meaning. "Nothing" means "nothing." "Nothing" means "nothing." No buts. You know the problem with many believers? We say, "Yes, Pastor, yes, Pastor, you see the promises of God." Yeah, Pastor, yeah, yeah, you know that's true what the Bible says. But the problem is, you should kick those buts out. The moment you say but, you have nullified the promise of God. You've nullified the promise of God. You canceled the promises of God, you know? You need to know the Bible says if nothing is impossible, that's where it stops. Do you know what unbelief stirs up? The anger of God and hurts his tender heart. If there is anything that would wound The Tender Heart Of God, it's nothing but unbelief. Let me show you a couple of passages.

The book of Numbers 11 verse 1, look at what it says over there: "And now the people complained about their hardships in the hearing of the Lord. And when he heard them, his anger was aroused. That is what it says. His anger was aroused. Then the fire from the Lord burned among them and consumed some of them on the outskirts of the camp." The sign of unbelief is complaining, and that's what the Israelites were doing here. They were complaining.

If we are full of faith, the proof is that we will have a grateful heart. What happened when they complained? The anger of the Lord was aroused against them, and some of them were burned. That's what it says. Some of them were burned. Look at the world today, look at the conversation that we hear continuously in the world. Most of the time you hear people complaining. They complain about the teachers, they complain about their bosses, they complain about their schools, they complain about their pastor, they complain about their husbands, they complain about their wives. They're complaining about everything in life.

My advice? Stay far away from those who complain, people who complain, because it's a spirit of unbelief, and before long, it can catch you. It will really catch you, and you will be affected by it. If you are a man of faith, you will always have a grateful heart for whatever you have received. We keep walking by faith, we don't look. You know, often times, I don't know if I've told you this example in this church here, you know, we are people who go to the restaurant, and we have ordered something, and then there is this nice dish that the neighboring table, it comes over there, and then we are always eyeing that dish that looks more attractive than what is coming on your table. That's the problem. Many times, we are always looking at what we don't have, we are always looking at what we don't have, and we're complaining about it. We never gr-- we are never grateful to God for what God has given us.

I don't know how many of you, when you walk in here, we walk in with a grateful heart that God gives you an opportunity one more Sunday to Worship the Lord. Do you know there are many places in our own country, you don't have to go far away, there are many places in our own country they cannot come together on a Sunday morning to Worship the Lord, the churches have been closed down. But praise God, every Sunday when I come to it, I say, "Lord, thank you, that one Sunday I can worship you with the other saints of God together, we can come together to Worship the Lord." I thank you, Lord, for the spiritual leadership that you have placed over me, that is a protection for me. I thank you, Lord, for my family that has been there with me. Thank you.

We should, you know, the ACT, you know, sign of faith is what, you know, learning to have a grateful heart. If you are a man of faith, you will always be grateful for whatever you have received, whatever God has given us. You know, we will be grateful. Next time you want to complain, next time you have an attitude to complain, think twice. It arouses the anger of God, and it's a sign of unbelief.

Let me take you to one more passage, Numbers chapter 11 verse 10. Moses heard the people of every family wailing each at the entrance to his tent. The Lord became exceedingly angry. Look at what it says over there, it says, "The Lord became exceedingly" qualifies, there was not an ordinary Ang exceedingly angry, but while at the meat verse 33, "But while the meat was still between their teeth and before it could be consumed, the anger of the Lord burned against the people, and he struck them with a severe plague." God heard their complaints, and he provided them their meat. But at the same time, he was so angry that he struck them with a severe plague.

Let me take you to one more passage, Matthew's gospel chapter 17 verse 17. Look at what it says over there, "Oh unbelieving and perverse generation." It says, "You faithless and corrupt." That's what is, you know, "You unbelieving and perverse generation." That's how Jesus addresses, do you know whom he was talking to? He was not addressing the people in the world, okay? He was not addressing the sinners. He was talking about his own disciples. They could not heal a demon-possessed boy that was brought to them because of their lack of faith. You know, Jesus is not compassionate to them. Jesus did not say, "Okay, okay, I understand. Okay, it's okay. I'll take care of it. I'll handle it. But at least you guys tried." No, that's okay. No, Jesus didn't do anything like that. You know, when Jesus, you see, Jesus came hard on them.

Now listen, you see, there was a woman that was brought to Jesus who fell into adultery, and everybody, the whole world, wanted to stone her to death. But Jesus showed compassion and mercy over there. He never judged her. He forgave her. He said, "Even I will not judge you." He said, "Even I will not throw a stone." He said, "Go and sin no more." He showed compassion, you know, to a woman who fell into adultery. But the same Jesus, this compassionate Jesus, looks at his disciples who lack faith, and he does not show compassion to them. He does not show comp-- he addresses them in some of the harshest words, blunt words, that he could ever use. He says, "You are a perverse generation. You are a forward." I don't think any one of us would ever use those words. Hey, Jesus is using this to his disciples. He says, "You are a perverse generation." Lack of faith was a bigger sin for Jesus than falling into adultery. You know, if you fall into adultery, your pastor will throw you out of this church. But your pastor will never throw you out of the church because you lack faith. Think about it. But in the eyes of God, in the eyes of Jesus, lack of faith was a bigger sin than adultery.

What about our lack of faith? Are we guilty of it? Have we gone back on what the Lord wanted us to do because we are not confident of doing it? I don't want to be harsh, but yet, let me speak the truth. Jesus calls them a perverse generation. Jesus does not condone them. But he has the harshest words reserved for them. Hebrews 11:6 says, "It is impossible to please God without faith." It's impossible to please God if you're not willing to come to God without faith. You know, we can do

many things as believers, but if we are not willing to have the faith to believe what God says is true, if we are not willing to move by faith but for what God says, then it's all meaningless. We need to believe what God says is true. Unbelief insults God, did you know that? Unbelief is telling God you are a liar. That's what unbelief is. His words, you know, you're saying, "Lord, I cannot trust your words." You know, unbelief is doubting God's wisdom. And God tells you, God has been telling you something, God has been speaking something into your heart, and you're not willing to go forward because you're not confident. It's telling God, "I can't trust your wisdom." You know, when God called Moses to bring his people out of Egypt, he knew exactly what he was doing. God knew that Moses was able to do what God had called him to do. You know, God, the Great I Am, had planned in his eternal wisdom that God was going to call Moses. You see, beloved, when we doubt our ability to fulfill our calling, we are insulting the one who has called us. When we say, "I don't think I'm capable to do what God is calling me to do," we are insulting God. God's ability, who called us. If we are called, it means we are aced. You know, the founder of the New Life Fellowship, Pastor Joseph, is gone to be with the Lord. He had a very famous saying every time he says, "If God orders the Biryani for you, he will pay the bill. If God has ordered the Biryani for you, he will pay the bill. You don't have to worry about that. If God has called you, he has already equipped you." Amen. You see, God expected Moses to believe that he aced the one that he calls. You know, when God calls his people, he gives them his power, he gives them the grace, and then only sends them. That's what God does. You know, let me take you to Matthew's gospel, chapter 10, verse 1. It says, "Jesus called his 12 disciples to him and gave them authority to drive out evil spirits and to heal every disease and sickness." It says he gave them authority to drive out the evil spirits and heal every sickness. And in verse 7, when you go to verse 7, it says, "As you go, preach this message: 'The Kingdom of Heaven is near.'" You know, when Jesus, you see, Jesus never sent his disciples to preach the gospel without giving his authority without acing them for the purpose for which he was sending them. He never sent them to do something that they were not capable of doing. You know, he was not like Pharaoh, you know what Pharaoh did? Exodus 5: 10-12, look at what it says. Then the slave drivers and the four men went out and said to the people, "This is what Pharaoh says: 'I will not give you any more straw. Go and get your own straw wherever you can find it, but your work will not be reduced at all.'" Pharaoh is expecting the Israelites to produce the same amount of bricks without giving any straw to make it. This is not how God works. God doesn't work this way. If he has called us, he will give us the grace and the ability to do what we are called to do. He will give us the grace. What is Grace? You know, the definition of Grace is God giving us the ability to do what we are called to do. God giving us the supernatural ability to do what we are called to do. That is the grace of God. You may be battling an area of temptation, and you don't know how to come off, come out of it. God will give you the grace to overcome the temptation. In other words, God will give you the supernatural ability to overcome that temptation. That is grace. That is the grace of God. You know when you are in Christ Jesus when you belong to Jesus Christ the grace and the calling go together, as mentioned in Galatians chapter 2:8. For God, who was at work in the ministry of Peter as an apostle of the Jews, was also at work in my ministry as an apostle to the Gentiles. Now here is Paul saying that God had called him to be an apostle to the Gentiles, and at the same time, Peter was called to be an apostle to the Jews. And he goes on to say that God has been with both of them; they were not left alone. You know what he says is, you see, God was with them in their Ministry. While Paul was called to reach out to the Gentiles, Peter was called to reach out to the Jewish people. And God was with both of them in their Ministry, giving them the grace and the ability that was needed to do the ministry that God had called them to.

The book of Ephesians 4:7 says, "To each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it." Each one of us has been given grace according to our calling. Every child of God has been given the grace according to the calling. No one can say there is no calling upon their lives. If you are seated here, I want you to know this: there is a calling upon your life. There is a call of God upon your life, and for what God has called you, God has given you the grace for that. God has given you that supernatural ability to do what you are called to do.

And what we are called to, He will give the grace to accomplish it. Let me show you another passage from the Book of Romans, chapter 12:6-8. It talks about different kinds of gifts. We may be called to prophesy, some of us may be called to teach, or serve, or encourage, or give leadership, or show mercy. But according to the calling, God's grace is available to equip us.

How does this apply for us today? How is it relevant today for us? You know, often times I've come across people, I've heard people say, "I don't think I'm called to be in the ministry. I don't think I'm called to be a worship leader, I don't think I'm called to play music or to lead any cell group or any Ministry." And then you come across people who say, "Oh, I'm a poor student. You know, I'm not a good wife, I'm not a good husband, or I'm not a good parent, I'm not a good businessman, I'm not a good doctor, good engineer, or I'm not capable."

I want you to listen. You may be a student, you may be a wife, a husband, parent, businessman, whatever you are, it's God who's called you into that calling. It's God who has called you into that calling. You know, if you are a student in a particular profession, in a course, it's God who has placed you over there. If God would not have opened the doors, you would not be in that college. There are many who have aspired to have that, but they have not got it. If you are in a place where you are working right now, that's where God has planted you. There are many who are looking to get married and they're not finding the right life partners. But if you have a husband or if you are married, if you have a wife, it's God who has placed you there.

You know, in the early days of my marriage, we used to have a lot of arguments. Your pastor doesn't—okay, this pastor used to fight a lot, and I wondered in those days, let me tell you, I wondered in those days, "Can I ever be a good husband?" There have been days I thought, "Will I ever make a good husband?" I had the same fear when I became a father. "Will I ever be able to fulfill the role of a father?" You know, when I came into the ministry, I had the same fear, "Will I ever be able to handle this great task that I had before me?" Until I discovered this truth, until I discovered if God has called me, for what I am, He will equip me. He will equip me.

I still remember, you know, much before my marriage, I heard the statement that Pastor Joseph had made, "If God has ordered the Biryani, He will pay the bill." And that was something that powerfully ministered to me in those early days. I said, "Lord, if you're calling me into the ministry, you will equip me. You will equip me."

You see, I want you to know this. If you are called to do something in the ministry, it is not because the pastor is asking you to do it, it's not because the pastor has appointed you. It is not the pastor who has appointed you. It is God who has called you, but He does it through human leadership that God places over us. It's God who's calling you to do what He's asking you. You cannot go back, you cannot say, "Let somebody else do that." You bring God's anger burning on you. You know that when He has called you, He will give His grace, His grace is available to help you through. He will equip you to do what you are called.

I want you to encourage, be encouraged. God has equipped you to excel in your academics. If you are a student, God has called you to excel in your professional life. God has called you to excel in your marriage, in your family life, you know, to be the best that is what. And He has equipped you to do the ministry that He has called you to do. Never run away from your calling, never put up your hands and say, "I don't think I can do this," never say, "I can't." You know, this job is too much for me, I cannot handle it, you know, these studies are too much for me, I don't think I can handle my marriage.

Hey, you have God. If He's got you married, God has equipped you for that. God has equipped you to raise your children in the right way. His grace is there, the supernatural ability of God is there for us. You know, I'll tell you, we, people of God, are the most fortunate people on this Earth, because we have what the world does not have. But the problem is, let me tell you, our eyes have been blinded. We tend to look at the word, at life, the way the world looks at life. We don't see what God has in for us. The grace of God, the supernatural ability of God, is available for us to do what we are called to do, to be the best is equipped to you to do the ministry that He has called you to do.

Never ever run away from your calling, never ever run away from your calling. That's why, you know, the Bible says, Jesus says, you know, God hates divorce. Why? Hey, if you are married, God has given you the grace, God has given you the grace to build your marriage. Come to

God, come to God. God has given us the grace, you know, we, you, and I, don't need to go to the to for counseling to the world outside, because we have what we need in the word of God. We have it in the presence of God. Come to the word of God, God will help us. It is dangerous to run away from a calling. Never say, "I am not capable." If God has called you, it means He has already acceded you. Running away is not a sign of humility, it's a sign of unbelief, and it will bring the anger of God upon you. Don't run away from your calling, don't run away from the challenges that you have in your life. If you are where you are, if you're standing before the Jericho wall, you are the Joshua who's going to bring the Jericho wall down. If you're standing before the Red Sea, you are the Moses that God has called you to divide the Red Sea. If you're standing before your Goliaths, you are the David that God has called you to knock down the Goliaths in your life. God has acceded us. He has given us the grace to do what you and I are called to do. The supernatural ability of God is with us.

Shall we look to the Lord in prayer? Amen. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Lord. Worship you, Father. Praise you.